Car coupler



Oct. 31, 1 933. A. J. BBBBB EY 1,932,439

c A R c o u P L ER Filed July 30, 1930 Oct. 31, 1933. A. J. BAZELEY CAR COUPLER Filed July so, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 3 woe/whom flrifig .IBazzeley W Patented Oct. 31, 1933 CAR COUPLER Arthur J. Bazeley, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to National Malleable and Steel Castings Com- I pany, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of'0hio Applicationjuly so, 1930. Serial No. 471,738

a 16 Claims. (01. 213-127) This invention relates to car couplers and has for a prime object the provision of' means for insuring against undesirable lateral shifting of the lock during throwing of the knuckle. My

invention provides for preventing the look from moving laterally, during theknuckle-throwing movement, into engageable relation to a ledge in the coupler head, and effectively eliminates the possibility of the catching of the lock on said ledge. In addition, the invention provides for the maintaining of the lock with'increased security in lock-set position; The invention also comprises variousfeatures'which will be hereina'fter described and claimed. v In the accompanying drawingsi r Fig. 1 is a vertical longit dinal sectional view, taken on line II' of Fig. 3, of-a coupler embody ing my invention, the lock being shown in lock-set position; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken on Iine liI- I-I of Fig. 4, the parts "being shown in knuckle-thrownposition. Fig.3 is a horizontal sectional view on line IiI -III of Fig. '1;

Fig. 4 is a horiz'ontal section'al view on line IV-'-IV of Fig.2.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the lock; and Fig.6: is a detailview of the knuckle-thrower. Referring to the drawings, myl'invention is shown in connection with'a coupler of 'the' American Railway Association standard D'type im'-" proved as set forth in my application S. 181,381,180, filed July 26, 1929. The present application is a continuation in part of the aforesaid application.

The coupler head A contains a lock B, lifter C, and knuckle thrower D. The knuckle (not shown) is of the usual standard D type, and the knuckle thrower acts upon said knuckle in the customary manner. As in my previously filed application above specified, the lifter C is formed in twoparts and is connected. to the lock Bthrough the en-f gagement of the hook-shaped lower end portion 2 with a trunnion 3 on the lock. To throw the about its fulcrum 4, the leg 5 of the lock cooperating with a face 6 of arm 7 of the knuckle'thrower D to actuate the-latter and thereby 'effect'the' throwing of the knuckle} Theithrower arm face gagement of the face 6 by the lock face 9" as far away from the pivot 8 as possible; an d'the' thrower knuckle the lock is raised and caused'tjo" swing 6 is shown arranged substantially on a radius of. the pivot'8 of the thrower, so as to ensure'en- 3) diagonally in advance of the central position'of said armto a position (Fig. 4) diagonally in the 7 rear thereof whereby the leverage exerted by the lock upon the thrower arm; which leverage is measured by the perpendicular distance from the] pivotal'axis of said arm-to theline of action'of so the force exerted by thelock leg, is substantially 'unalie ct'ed by the movement of said arm about said axis. Also, the surface 9 of'the lock leg which cooperates with thrower arm face 6 is so shaped as to maintain a line engagement with 5 the face 6 throughout the knuckle-throwing movement.

The lock leg 5 extends into an opening 10in the bottom of the coupler head. As compared with the locker the standard D-coupler, thelock Bis of increased width and cross-sectional area in and-abovethe region of' the lock-set seat 11;

and in addition the bottom portion'of said lock B'below'the lock-set seat has been cutaway, as is indicated at 1 2, le'avinga reduced downward ex tension 1206 on 'the' guard arm side of the lock.

' By these improvements the strength of the lock It may be noted from Fig. 3 that the lockeset 7 seat 11 extends radially to th'e'piv'ot 8 andin a direction corresponding to the thrower arm face'6 when th'elock is in lock-set position. a

The features above described are set forth more in detail'in my application previously'referred to. For the purpose of the present invention, however," a description of said features, beyond that hereinbefore given, is unnecessary. By my present invention, 1 insure against undesirable lateral" shifting of the lock during knuckle-throwing movement toward the pivot-pin side ofthe coupler (or away from the guard arm side) and thus preclude the shouldered'portion 13 above 5" the-cut away portion 12 of the lock'from overlap" ping the ledge or edge Mat the side of opening- 10. "Any possibility during knuckle-throw of lateral shifting of the lock to such an extent as to result in catching of the lock on said ledge 14 166- is thus prevented, 7

In carrying out my invention, I provide on the knuckle thrower a face 15, which extends in an arc the center of which is substantially the center of the thrower pivot "8, and which engages the leg of the lock to form a guide therefor through out the knuckle throwing movement. Said'face 15' also'extends vertically, being. formed as a sure" face on an upwardly extending projection 16 x of the knuckle thrower. The lock leg 5 is builtout 0 security in lock-setting is attained.

as indicated at 17 so as to be engaged by said arouate face 15 at all times throughout the knucklethrowing movement of the lock. The face 15 is shown (Figs. 3 and 4) extending slightly beyond the edge 14 of opening 10 though of course it may extend only to said edge and still perform effectively its intended function.

It will thus be seen that through the face 15 the lock is positively prevented throughout throwing of the knuckle from moving laterally into overlapping relation to the ledge 14. In addition to obviating catching of the lock on said ledge, it may be noted that said face 15 engages the lock leg 5 while the lock is in lock-set position, as shown in Fig. 3, and thus prevents inward lateral movement of the look (i. e., movement away from the guard arm side of the coupler) when the lock is in lock-set position. Due to the radial position of the thrower arm 7 and the lock set seat 11 the overlap therebetween is decreased by inward shifting of the lock. By precluding such shifting of the lock when in lock-set position, the face 15 preserves undiminished the overlap between the lock-set seat and thrower arm, whereby greater It may be pointed out additionally that, by preventing inward shifting of the lock throughout the knucklethrowing movementQthe face 15 maintains the lock leg at the maximum distance from the thrower pivot 8, whereby positive provision is the lockguiding surface 15 is moved in the same direction as the lock, with the result that wear between the parts is very considerably reduced as compared with that which would occur if the lock guiding surface were stationary.

Theterms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but recognize that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

I claim:

1. In a car coupler, a pivotally mounted knuckle thrower, a lock for operating said thrower, and means for cooperating with said lock for preventing lateral movement of the lock during knuckle throwing movement, said means comprising a projection extending upwardly from said thrower and having an arcuate surface engageable with the lock for maintaining the latter in a given position laterally of the coupler.

2. In a car coupler, a knuckle thrower, a lock for operating said thrower, said lock having a seat engageable with said thrower for supporting the lock in lock-set position, and means on said thrower, intermediate the ends thereof for preventing lateral shifting of said lock in one direction when in lock-set position.

3. In a car coupler, a pivoted knuckle thrower having a lock set seat, the forward edge of which normally extends diagonally forwardly, a lock for operating said thrower, said lock having a seat engageable with said thrower for supporting the seat, said projection extending on the guard arm side of said lock and being of less width than the main portion of said leg, whereby there is provided a shoulder extending. laterally from said projection, said leg portion above said shoulder having an uninterrupted surface for cooperation with a vertically extending face on a knuckle thrower for the preventing of movement of the .lock in a given direction laterally with respect to the coupler.

5. In a car coupler, a knuckle thrower mounted for pivotal movement in a horizontal plane, a lock mounted for vertical and rearward movements and adapted to operate said thrower, a surface on the side of said lock adjacent the pivot of said thrower and a projection on said thrower adapted to cooperate with said lock surface dur ing all vertical and rearward movements of said lock for preventing movement of the lock in a given direction laterally of the coupler.

6. In a car coupler comprising a coupler head,

a knuckle thrower, a vertically movable lock foroperating said thrower, said lock extending into an opening in said head and being guided laterally by the lateral walls of said opening in the low- 1 er positions of said lock, a vertical projection on said knuckle thrower intermediate its ends forming an upward extension adjacent one of said lateral walls and serving to prevent lateral movement of said lock in a given direction in the upper positions thereof.

7. In a car coupler, a knuckle thrower, a lock adapted to move vertically and swing rearwardly for operating said thrower, said lock having an uninterrupted vertical surface on a side thereof lying adjacent a vertical surface on said thrower during all vertical and rearward movements of the lock.

8. In a car coupler comprising a coupler head, a'knuckle thrower, a lock adapted to move vertically and swing rearwardly for operating said thrower, and means preventing lateral shifting of the lock during all vertical and rearward movements thereof, said means comprising a vertical surfaces being so arranged as to be adjacent one another during all vertical and rearward movements of said lock.

9. In a car coupler, a head, a knuckle thrower,

a vertically movable lock for operating said thrower, said lock extending into an opening in the floor of said head, said look having a por tion adjacent a wall of said opening at the guard arm side of the coupler and engageable with said thrower for operating the latter and also having a shoulder adjacent the opposite wall of said opening and movable above said opening during vertical movement of the lock, and means projecting above said floor and cooperating with a portion of the lock adjacent said last mentioned wall for preventing lateral movement of said shoulder into a position in which it would overlie an. edge of said opening.

'10. A knuckle thrower comprising a body por ate surface, and arms of different length forming an angle with each other in a given plane, an integral trunnion at the junction of said arms extending perpendicularly to the plane thereof for pivotally mounting said thrower, said thrower having a projection extending perpendicularly to the plane of said arms on the opposite side of said body portion from said trunnion, said projection having a substantially perpendicular arcuate surface formed as an extension of the arcuate surface of said body portion.

11. In a car coupler, a head, a knuckle thrower, a vertically movable and rearwardly swingable, lock for operating said thrower, said lock extending into an opening in the floor of said head and having a shoulder movable into and above said opening during vertical movement of said lock, and means comprising an arcuate surface projecting above said floor and cooperating with said lock for preventinglateral movement of said shoulder into a position in which it would overlie an edge of said opening, said arcuate surface being tangential to the cooperating surface of said lock during said vertical and swinging movements.

12. In a car coupler, a two armed knuckle thrower pivoted in the coupler head, a lock adapted to move vertically and swing rearwardly having a face engageable with an arm on said thrower adjacent the extremity thereof for operating said thrower to effect throwing of the knuckle, and means comprising a projection on said thrower having an arcuate surface tangentially movable relative to a side of the lock and adapted to engage the latter for positively preventing lateral shifting of the lock in one direction during knuckle throwing movement.

13. In a car coupler the combination of a lock and knuckle thrower, said knuckle thrower having a surface for maintaining the lock in a given longitudinal relation to the coupler and another surface assisting in maintaining the lock in a given lateral relationto the coupler throughout the vertical movement of the lock between lockset and locked positions.

14. In a car coupler, the combination of a lock and a knuckle thrower pivotally mounted and having a portion engaged by the lock for swinging said thrower about its pivot, said thrower having another portion intermediate its pivot and thefirst mentioned portion for preventing lateral movement of the lock in one direction throughout the movement of the latter between lock-set and locked positions.

15. In a car coupler, a knuckle, a knuckle thrower movable in a horizontal plane, a vertically movable lock, and means on said knuckle thrower for preventing lateral movement of said lock in one direction throughout its vertical movements between locked and lock-set positions.

16. In a car coupler, a knuckle, a knuckle thrower pivoted for movement in a horizontal plane, a vertically movable lock, and means on said knuckle thrower for preventing movement of the look toward said pivot throughout the vertical movements of the lock between locked and lock-set position.

. ARTHUR J. BAZELEY. 

